Book Review: “The Reformation how a Monk with a Mallet Changed the World”

The Reformation
©2007 by Stephen J. Nichols
Published by Crossway
159 pages

Like me, you are probably a Zwinglian. I guess we have similar viewpoints when it comes to theological matters including Zwinglianism. The word was coined to identify those who hold to Ulrich Zwingli’s view of the Lord’s Supper as a memorial. He and I both disagree with the Roman Catholicism view of the Lord’s Supper as transubstantiation, the Lutheran view of consubstantiation, and even the Presbyterian view of the Lord’s Supper as a sacrament. I agree with Zwingli that it is a memorial of the Lord’s death. I say that realizing that he would probably drown me over our disagreement about believer’s baptism. But I digress.

Stephen Nichols’ book on the (Protestant) Reformation isn’t only about a monk with a mallet (Martin Luther). He has written a very readable (dare I say enjoyable) history of not only the Reformation in Germany but Zurich, Geneva, and Britain. He also includes women of the Reformation and the “Radicals” (yes, I’m talking about those Baptists).

How many times do you laugh out loud while reading history? I found myself doing that several times. An example, “An invitation came to Zwingli to speak at the Oewtenbach Convent. Zwingli accepted, perhaps thinking he might find a wife. After all, Luther had married a former nun. Maybe this would yet be another way that Zwingli’s career and life would follow Luther’s template. So, what would impress these now eligible nuns? A lecture on hermeneutics, of course. Zwingli miscalculated. He returned to Zurich a bachelor…”

If you are interested in what all the fuss is concerning the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, this book is a good start. I highly recommend it, and you don’t have to be a history major to enjoy it.